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- Nicolas Sanson’s Map of North America 1650: An apparently unrecorded first state
Nicolas Sanson’s Map of North America 1650: An apparently unrecorded first state
- By The Map Collector
- Published 1 September 1980
- Maps
- Unrated
The Map Collector
The Map Collector, initiated by Peter Scott and Valerie G. Newby, was a journal on historical cartography published every quarter. The first issue appeared in 1997 and continued for nearly 20 years. After 74 issues the last copy appeared in Spring 1996. Mrs. Valerie G. Newby, is presently editor of the IMCoS Journal.
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by Warren Heckrotte
Mr Heckrotte is a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory of the University of California. He has been a map collector for some years, his primary interest being the cartography of Western North America.
Nicolas Sanson’s Map of North America. 1650. is one of the significant printed maps of North America of the seventeenth century. 1 Shown for the first time on a printed map is a representation of the five Great Lakes2 and important additions to knowledge of the Southwest3 This map went through several editions and continued to exert influence for over fifty years.
Sanson's map is generally known in two states: on the earlier. Lake Ontario is indicated by boundaries without shading unlike the other lakes. and on the later. this lake appears with the usual shading; otherwise. there are no differences.4 My purpose is to display and comment on a still earlier apparently unrecorded state of this map which. in comparison with the other two, demonstrates a significant revision in Sanson's geographical concepts during the preparation of the plate.
Nicolas Sanson was born in Abbeville in Picardy in 1600 and died in Paris in 1667. Hewas appointed Geographe Ordinaire du Roy in 1630 and is regarded as the founder of the French school of geography. He produced over 300 maps raising France from a negligible to a prominent position. The first complete collection of his maps appeared in his atlas 'Cartes generales de toutes les parties du Monde', 1658. Sanson founded a dynasty that lasted over 100 years, passing through his sons to Jaillot, from Jaillot to his grandson Pierre Moulat Sanson, and thence to the Vaugondys.
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COPYRIGHT September 1980 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Mr Heckrotte is a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory of the University of California. He has been a map collector for some years, his primary interest being the cartography of Western North America.
Nicolas Sanson’s Map of North America. 1650. is one of the significant printed maps of North America of the seventeenth century. 1 Shown for the first time on a printed map is a representation of the five Great Lakes2 and important additions to knowledge of the Southwest3 This map went through several editions and continued to exert influence for over fifty years.
Sanson's map is generally known in two states: on the earlier. Lake Ontario is indicated by boundaries without shading unlike the other lakes. and on the later. this lake appears with the usual shading; otherwise. there are no differences.4 My purpose is to display and comment on a still earlier apparently unrecorded state of this map which. in comparison with the other two, demonstrates a significant revision in Sanson's geographical concepts during the preparation of the plate.
Nicolas Sanson was born in Abbeville in Picardy in 1600 and died in Paris in 1667. Hewas appointed Geographe Ordinaire du Roy in 1630 and is regarded as the founder of the French school of geography. He produced over 300 maps raising France from a negligible to a prominent position. The first complete collection of his maps appeared in his atlas 'Cartes generales de toutes les parties du Monde', 1658. Sanson founded a dynasty that lasted over 100 years, passing through his sons to Jaillot, from Jaillot to his grandson Pierre Moulat Sanson, and thence to the Vaugondys.
Read Full Article >>
[Acrobat Reader required]
COPYRIGHT September 1980 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
